1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machine which is suited to perform automatically, and in a way which is industrially applicable, the following operations on pears:
external peeling; PA1 flower removal; PA1 complete removal of the core, including the elimination of the stem; PA1 end cutting (on the stem side); PA1 subdivision (splitting) into one or more segments. PA1 a lifting and feeding device for the pears (FIGS. 2-3); PA1 a chain conveyor (FIG. 7) which is characterized by elements (FIGS. 4-5-6) which translate, horizontally orient the pears, and maintain them in this position. PA1 special pliers (FIGS. 8-9-10-11) which are suited to displace each pear, from said chain conveyor, to a device for the clamping and concentric locating of the pears (FIG. 15), insuring a vertical position of the pears and an orientation in which the stem is downwardly directed; PA1 said clamping and concentric locating device (FIG. 15) being also suited to insert each pear, one at a time, onto an appropriate element of a rotating head (FIG. 16) comprising four stations; PA1 external peeling; PA1 flower removal; PA1 complete removal of the core, including the elimination of the stem; PA1 end cutting (on the stem side); PA1 subdivision (splitting) into one or more segments. PA1 a lifting and feeding device for the pears (FIGS. 2-3); PA1 a chain conveyor (FIG. 7) which is characterized by elements (FIGS. 4-5-6) which translate, horizontally orient the pears, and maintain them in this position. PA1 special pliers (FIGS. 8-9-10-11) which are suited to displace each pear, from said chain conveyor, to a device for the clamping and concentric locating of the pears (FIG. 15), insuring a vertical position of the pears and an orientation in which the stem is downwardly directed; PA1 said clamping and concentric locating device (FIG. 15) being also suited to insert each pear, one at a time, onto an appropriate element of a rotating head (FIG. 16) comprising four stations; PA1 said rotatable head (FIG. 16) displaces each pear towards said four stations, in each of which the pear is processed; PA1 a special vice (FIGS. 21-21/a), which is suited to pick up each pear from said rotatable head (FIG. 16), and to translate it into a final operating station (FIGS. 22-23), wherein the central core separation and cutting into segments are carried out; PA1 an operating head (FIGS. 22-23) comprising two blades (63-64) for cutting the pear into segments, and a rotatable blade (62) for removing the central core; PA1 a belt conveyor which moves away the (edible and inedible) fruit parts, after the processing operations; PA1 step motion and/or reciprocating motion mechanisms, which are synchronized, and which are suited to move each single component of the machine, and are disposed and structured so as to attain the desired result; PA1 a machine bed (or machine base) enclosing and supporting everything.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, no machine is known, which is suited to perform all the above operations on the pears, including their automatic loading and orientation control, without any intervention of the operator at various stages of the working cycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,238, corresponding to the closest prior art, discloses a pear processing method and apparatus including several mechanisms for properly orienting the pear prior to coring, peeling and seed celling. After being oriented by a pair of orienting rolls, the pear is held with its stem directed downwardly, and is dropped into a transfer cup.
Thereafter the pear is pushed out of the transfer cup, into a feed cup having three arms grasping and centering the blossom end of the pear.
Subsequently the pear is trimmed by blossom trim means. Then, the feed cup rotates by 90.degree. in order to impale the pear on the coring tube.
On this tube the pear is rotated, the stem of the pear is severed, the peeling is performed, and finally the seed cell of the pear is severed by seed celling knife means.
In contrast to the present application it can be observed that the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,238 performs almost all operations on the pear while the latter is on the coring tube used to remove the central core. In the present invention, as will be seen by the following detailed description, splitting and seed celling is performed on a spindle which is not tubular.
Moreover, the machine of the present application splits the pear on the same spindle used for seed celling. Instead, the machine of the above mentioned US patent requires a separate slice cup means.
No conveyor is disclosed in the above mentioned US patent, which is used to lift each pear separately from the other pears contained in a storage basin.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,627 discloses an apparatus and method used only for orienting pears, wherein a trough support, which is inclined and has diverging walls, is employed.
The side walls of the trough are spaced apart at the bottom, to receive the upper stretch of a belt. If a pear has its bulb end uppermost, it continues to travel uphill and no effect is produced. If the pear has its stem end uppermost, while travelling uphill on the inclined trough, it is rotated. The result is that all the pears are discharged from the trough with their butt ends foremost.
No direct teaching can be obtained from this document in order to arrive at a conveyor which separately lifts the pears from a storage basin, as in the present application.
FR-A-2,533,807 discloses a machine for orienting and displacing pears. There are disclosed means to orient the pears vertically, and inflatable means to hold them firmly inside cups provided on a rotating drum. The rotation of the drum enables to move the pears to successive stations, in order to perform different operations thereon.
Said drum cannot be compared to the rotatable head of the present application, since it has no tubular tool to separate the core.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,211,201 discloses a machine which can perform pear stem end trimming, stemming, peeling, coring, and splitting.
This machine does not perform any orientation of the pears, since the latter are placed stem-end-down by the operator himself.